


Partners in Time

by cmmcgee_writer92



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, F/F, Fluff, Guilt, Love Confessions, Regret, idk where this is going
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 10:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10897878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmmcgee_writer92/pseuds/cmmcgee_writer92
Summary: Max and Chloe leave the ruins of Arcadia Bay behind in search of a new place to call home.





	Partners in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Not really sure where exactly I'm going with this yet... just wherever my muse takes it I guess. Not sure how frequently I'll update... I'll shoot for every other week but not making any promises. I don't expect this to be super long... just a few chapters probably.

Max couldn’t get the image out of her head: the tornado ripping through the town, tearing a big chunk of her life to pieces, erasing the place where she’d made so many memories both good and bad. She rested her head on the window, staring out at the damage the storm left in its wake as they drove through the wreckage. There was nothing left; nothing but rubble, the remnants of chaos and destruction. The same ghost like deer that Max had seen a number of times over the last several days pranced into the road and stopped for a moment, glancing at them. Max wondered what the deer was supposed to represent, why she kept seeing it, why it seemed to have been guiding her. Maybe it was the ghost of Rachel. The animal seemed to bow its head and looked at Max one last time before continuing across the road, disappearing into thin air just before it reached the other side.

 She felt Chloe’s hand on her arm as the truck came to a slow stop and she turned to look at the girl. They’d lost everything: people they cared about, the place they’d called home, it was all gone now. At least they still had each other. Max slid closer to Chloe as they began to move again, and rested her head on the girl’s shoulder, closing her eyes to block out the sight of the destruction that surrounded them.

Chloe glanced at Max and smiled. She’d lost Rachel a month ago, now her mother was gone, David was gone, the place she’d called home despite how much she’d grown to hate it had been destroyed. She’d lost so much but she was happy to at least still have Max at her side. She gripped the steering wheel, glancing down at the gas gage, satisfied that there was enough fuel in the tank to get them far away from Arcadia Bay. There was nothing left for them here now, no reason to stay in a place that was filled with more bad memories than good. She listened to Max’s slow, even breaths as the girl drifted off to sleep beside her, head still rested on Chloe’s shoulder, and eventually reached her hand out to turn the radio on, skipping over the stations rambling on about the storm, climate change, and Armageddon in search of some decent music.

Neither of them knew where they were headed. They could always make the drive to Seattle but Chloe wasn’t sure how Max’s parents would feel about taking her in now, given how much she’d changed. She also didn’t know how either of them would manage to explain the hell she and Max had been through over the last week. It had all been so crazy and, had she not experienced it herself, she never would have believed any of it. Chloe wondered if the two of them could manage to make it on their own with what little money they had and no place to go. It would be hard at first; what little money the two of them had wouldn’t last forever and whatever Max was getting from her parents would likely be cut off before long. Chloe knew that eventually she’d have to break down and get a job, try to make some sort of honest living to support herself and Max. She hated the idea, but she’d do it for Max, if for no other reason.

She finally managed to find a decent radio station and she turned the volume down a little, leaving it still audible but quiet enough that Max could get some much needed, undisturbed rest. Chloe gripped the steering wheel with both hands again, smiling at Max once more before focusing her eyes on the long road ahead of them. Her stomach growled but she ignored it, eager to get far away from Arcadia Bay and leave the chaos far behind. They’d have to stop eventually and get something to eat and she would need some rest, but both would have to wait.

 

*~*~*

 

It was the middle of the afternoon before Chloe pulled her truck into a gas station and got out to fill up the tank. Max woke up, the steady motion of the wheels turning over pavement no longer present to keep her lulled to sleep. She got out of the truck and walked around, stretching her legs a bit. Her stomach growled and Chloe looked up at her. “Guess that means we should get something to eat too before we get back on the road,” she said and Max nodded.

They climbed back into the truck and Chloe drove a quarter mile in search of a place to eat, and pulled into the parking lot of small diner. Memories flooded both of their minds as they made their way inside, eyes grazing over two officers sitting at the counter sipping coffee, a trucker sitting alone in a both forking pieces of steak into his mouth, and a couple teenagers sitting on a corner bickering back and forth.

Max’s stomach twisted into knots as she and Chloe made their way to the opposite corner and slid into an empty booth. A middle aged woman greeted them with a gentle smile and set a couple menus in front of them. “What can I get you two young ladies to drink,” she asked.

“Coffee,” Chloe spoke up first and then turned her gaze from the waitress to Max.

“Same,” was all Max could manage to mutter. She pressed her back against the wall and pulled her feet up onto the booth, hugging her knees to her chest. She closed her eyes tight, trying to cast out the memories that haunted her.

“What is it,” Chloe asked sensing that something was wrong.

Max opened her eyes again and looked at the girl across from her. She knew the same memories were floating through Chloe’s mind, she could see it in her sad eyes, but Chloe was so much stronger than she was. She guessed it was probably all the loss that the girl had already suffered: her father, Rachel, she’d even lost Max for a while, and now her mother and David were gone too, the place where she’d spent her whole life was now nothing more than a picture to be stored away in the back of her mind. You learned to be strong, or at least learned how to hide the pain well when all life ever did was take from you. Max took a deep breath and did her best to try and draw from the strength she saw in Chloe. “It’s like home,” she said. The words came out as little more than a whisper and Chloe’s eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and understanding.

The waitress returned with two cups of coffee, a couple small containers of creamer and small rectangular container loaded with packs of sugar. Chloe grabbed several of the small packs, tore them open all at once, and dumped their tiny crystal like contents into the steaming cup of bitter black liquid that was set in front of her. “Y’all ready to order,” the waitress asked and both girls nodded. Chloe ordered a stack of pancakes and Max got eggs and bacon.

They waited for their food in silence and ate quickly, both eager to get out of the diner, to get back in the truck and keep driving until they were far away from this tiny town that reminded them both too much of Arcadia Bay. “I’m sorry,” Chloe said quietly after she shoveled the last of her pancakes into her mouth.

Max looked up from her plate, eyes curious. “For what?”

“I should have done more to encourage you to save Arcadia Bay. I’m not worth sacrificing a whole town over, Max. Those people… they deserved to live more than I did. And now you... you lost your friends, your school, everything you had back there.”

“Chloe, don’t say things like that, please. You were worth it. I told you, you’re my number one priority; you’re all that matters to me. As long as I’ve got you then that’s all that matters, that’s all I need. And yeah, the memories hurt and maybe I feel a little guilty because people who maybe didn’t deserve to die are dead now because of a choice I made. But I’d do it again; I’d do a million times to save you.”

The waitress returned one last time and slid the check onto the table and took away the empty plates, her presence barely noticed by the two girls as they sat staring into each other’s eyes. Max reached into the pocket of her jeans when she finally managed to tear her gaze away from Chloe. She pulled out enough money to pay for their meal and leave a small tip and then the two of them pushed themselves out of the booth and made for the truck, the long road ahead beckoning to them.

 

*~*~*

 

Chloe pulled the truck off to the side of the deserted road and parked in a grassy field, a safe distance from any other traffic unlikely to pass during the night. She cut the engine and got out of truck and then wandered to the back, opening the hatch and climbing up into the bed. Max followed behind her and the two of them laid in the rusted, empty bed of the old truck, staring up at the stars shinning bright in the darkness around them. A cool breeze blew, raising goosebumps on Max’s arms and making her shiver. Chloe shifted her gaze to the girl beside her. “You’re cold,” she said pulling Max’s attention away from the night sky.

“A little,” Max said. “You’re not?”

Chloe shook her head and took her jacket off, placing it on top of Max to give her at least a little protection against the cool breeze that continued to blow. Max smiled and turned her attention back to the stars, staring up at them for a few minutes before she hesitantly snuggled closer to Chloe, seeking more warmth and the comfort of being close to the girl, and rested her head on Chloe’s chest. Chloe wrapped an arm around Max, a smile on her face as she stared up at the stars.

“Where are we gonna go,” Max asked eventually, interrupting the sound of the gentle wind and chirping crickets. She felt Chloe shrug her shoulders, more interested in the stars than where they might be headed. “You don’t… still think I made the wrong decision do you,” Max asked her. The question had been nagging at her since shortly after they left the diner where they stopped to eat earlier. When she’d made the choice to sacrifice Arcadia Bay, she’d done it out of her own selfish desire to keep Chloe by her side. But now the words Chloe’d spoken before she’d made that choice and the words she’d said at the diner kept replaying over and over in her head. It dawned on her that maybe Chloe really didn’t want to be saved.

“What,” Chloe asked, finally turning her head and shifting her gaze away from the stars again. “What do you mean?”

Max wondered if maybe she should just let it go, enjoy the night with Chloe rather than drowning in her own deep, dark thoughts. “I sacrificed Arcadia Bay because I didn’t think I could live without you. I never stopped to think about the impact it might have on you,” she said. “I took everything from you, Chloe: you’re mother, David, your home.”

“You are my home, Max,” Chloe said before Max could go on. “And I know David wasn’t as shitty a guy in the end as I thought he was, but fuck him. And my mom,” Chloe fell quiet for a moment before she continued, “I’ll miss her, but… I have you and you’re all I need.” A few seconds of silence passed between them again before Chloe spoke again. “I love you, Max,” she confessed.

Max lifted her head off Chloe’s chest and looked at the girl, getting lost in her eyes for a moment. “Like you loved Rachel,” she asked, uncertain how Chloe would respond and bracing for the worst, fearing rejection. There was no doubt Chloe had feelings for Rachel, she never really tried to hide it, and Max was prepared for confirmation that she was still second on the totem pole and she had no one but herself to blame: for leaving Chloe, for letting herself become second best; she could only blame herself, and maybe her parents.

“More than I loved Rachel,” Chloe said.”You’re my number one, Max, you always will be.”

The words took a few seconds to sink in and Max smiled when they finally did. “I love you too,” she said and pressed her lips against Chloe’s, a small part of her half expecting the girl to pull away. Instead of pulling away, Chloe pulled Max closer and deepened the kiss, longing for it to last until they were both desperate for air. “Still want to elope,” Max asked with a grin when they finally separated.

Chloe laughed and looked up into Max’s eyes. “Does that mean your answer to my proposal after you almost shot Frank is a yes?”

Max pretended to think about it for a minute before she nodded and Chloe pulled her in for another kiss. When they separated again, Max rested her head back on Chloe’s chest, attention once again focused on the stars shining bright above them as they both drifted off to sleep.


End file.
